


That's the Way It Is

by pintobean82



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-10-19 04:19:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17594498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pintobean82/pseuds/pintobean82
Summary: He’s never seen her before. He is absolutely positive that if he had seen her walking around campus, he would’ve remembered. Granted, he’s not that sure he could remember most things at the moment. But he would've remembered her.





	1. Love Comes to Those Who Believe It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from the Celine Dion song 'That's the Way It Is" and all chapter titles are lyrics from the song.

He’s never seen her before. He is absolutely positive that if he had seen her walking around campus, he would’ve remembered. Granted, he’s not that sure he could remember most things at the moment. But he would've remembered her.

Scott is standing in the kitchen with Patrick getting more beer when he sees her for the first time. It’s the last weekend before final exams and then the long holiday break and he will be damned if he’s not going to live it up in the last moments of his freedom from the library. Who would’ve thought that the first semester of his last year would be one long, hellish nightmare?

He lost count of how many drinks he’s had about an hour ago and Patrick has been trying to get him to leave for the last fifteen minutes, but he can’t now, not when she’s just walked into the room.

He interrupts whatever Patrick was telling him about calling an uber and leaving Scott to fend for himself, “Who is that?”

“Who is who? Scott, come on, I wanted to be asleep two hours ago.”

“No, Chiddy, who’s that girl over there?” He nods his head towards the girl on the other side of the kitchen, talking to some other girl he vaguely recognizes from one of his classes.

“Which one? The blonde?”

“No, her friend.”

“Oh um, I think her name is Tessa? She was in my psych class this semester.”

Scott doesn’t even look at Patrick when he asks, “Can you introduce me?”

“I barely know her and I definitely do not know her well enough to be introducing my drunk friends to her.” Scott rolls his eyes and Patrick takes the beer he had been holding, setting it on the counter. “Let’s go. Seriously, you’ll regret staying out this late when you have to get up and study tomorrow.”

Objectively, Scott knows he’s right, but he also knows that objectively, Tessa is the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen and if this is the first time he is seeing her in three and a half years who knows when it’ll happen again. Despite this sobering thought, Scott lets Patrick lead him towards the front door of the apartment they’re in. It’s as Patrick is handing him his jacket that he hears his name being called from behind him. Scott turns to find the blonde girl from the kitchen smiling at him. Standing behind her is Tessa, with a wide eyed, slightly embarrassed look on her face.

“I’m Ashley? From physio?”

“Oh yeah of course! What’s up?”

Ashley gives him the most dramatic sigh he’s ever heard in his life, “I started studying for our final today and I realized I’m missing like a whole section of notes from a few weeks back. I missed class when that flu epidemic was going around campus. Any chance you could help me out?”

Scott is pretty sure Ashely has never missed a class the whole semester. She sits three rows in front of him, right in front of the professor, and pays attention like her life depends on it. Not only that, but he’s pretty sure the girl who sits next to her is her girlfriend and has also never missed a lecture. Scott is not one to refuse a person in need though, so he finds himself nodding yes anyways.

Ashley doesn’t even wait a second before she starts talking again, “Great! Where do you normally study? I can meet you there tomorrow to grab your notes for a few minutes. Here,” she hands her phone over to Scott, a ‘create new contact’ page already opened, “put your number in my phone and we can work something out.”

Scott takes the phone and starts typing in his number, not looking at her when he answers, “Normally I just go to the library, so I’ll probably be there, but I’ll text you the time or if anything changes.”

He looks up to give her phone back and catches the tail end of what looks like a silent conversation between the two girls. But Ashely is quick to turn to him and give him a giant smile, “Thank you so much! You seriously have no idea how helpful this is. See you tomorrow!”

With that, she turns around and grabs Tessa’s arm, taking them back towards the kitchen. He catches Tessa’s eye before they’ve completely disappeared and gives her a small smile, which she ends up returning, along with a wave. The gesture makes his stomach flip. Shaking his head he turns around to find Patrick looking at him with a shit eating grin.

“Well, at least you got her friend’s number.”

Scott just rolls his eyes, opens the door, and shoves Patrick through it.  
  
…

Tessa is going to kill her. She’s seriously starting to contemplate the best place to bury a body in Montreal when Ashley pinches her thigh.

“Ow! What was that for?” she asks, rubbing the spot with her palm.

“Stop fidgeting and shooting me death glares. I did you a favor. You were practically drooling over him last night.”

Tessa can feel her face heating up. She had definitely not been drooling over him, she hadn’t even looked at him more than once, maybe twice.

“Listen Tess, he was obviously checking you out, you said he was hot, I said I could get you an in and I did. So can we please skip to the part where you graciously thank me and move on with our day?”

“No we can’t! You haven’t thought this through. You’re going to take his notes and then what? Pretend to copy them? And I’m going to sit here awkwardly while he stands there awkwardly and then he’ll leave thinking we’re both two weird strangers,” she whispers indignantly. Ashley has a habit of getting them into situations she thinks she can orchestrate and then looses control of. This feels like one of those times.

“Listen, I’ve got it covered okay? Just trust me.” Ashley’s phone pings then and she checks it, her face lighting up as she types something back. “He’s here! Okay just act natural when he comes in.”

Tessa rolls her eyes and goes back to her text book. Well pretends to at least, it’s a little hard to concentrate.

She hears someone approaching and looks up, only to briefly make eye contact with Scott before he quickly looks away to address Ashley.

“Hey, um, here’s my notebook. I’ll need it back soon, but I plan to be in the library for the rest of the day, so just text me when you’re done with it and I can grab it from you.”

Tessa tries to go back to reading when she feels Ashley kick her underneath the table. She whips her head up to glare at the other girl just in time to see her give Scott her biggest smile.

“No need to go anywhere! Just sit, I’m going to go photocopy the pages and I’ll be back in five, ten minutes tops. Talk to Tess!” She gives Tessa’s shoulder a quick squeeze and is gone before either her or Scott can protest.

She looks at Scott and he’s already staring at her, looking uncertain, so she nods her head to the chair across from hers. He takes the invitation and sits, “Hey, I’m Scott.”

“Tessa,” she says, holding out her hand for him to shake. He takes it and she almost expects to feel a spark, but this is real life, not some romantic comedy, so it just feels normal. But his hand is large and warm and not sweaty, which is a plus.

“I can let you get back to studying if you want. You don’t actually have to talk to me until she gets back.”

Tessa huffs out a laugh and smiles at him, “It’s fine, I need a break anyways. I feel like I’ve been reading the same sentence for the last ten minutes.”

“I’ve definitely been there.” He smiles and laughs too. “So, how do you know Ashley?”

“We were paired as roommates our first year and have been friends and roommates ever since. At this point we’re pretty much inseparable. Unless, you know, she’s with her girlfriend.”

“You’re in your third year too then?”

“Yeah, I am. You are too?”

“No, actually this is my last, but I figured, you know, they do attendance by year and Ashley’s always in the first group, so…”

Tessa has never heard of attendance by year before. She gives him a skeptical look.

Scott smiles sheepishly and scratches the back of his neck. His shirt is tight around his bicep and it takes a lot of conscious effort to make herself not stare. “Okay I have to admit, I was pretty drunk at this party where I saw her last night and this morning, my roommate, Chiddy, he told me I promised her she could grab my notes and I had to look her up on the course page to make sure I knew what she looked like.”

Tessa laughs, “Well, you pull off drunk pretty well. You really just seemed tipsy, at most.” All the sudden, his face lights up and he slaps the table, startling her.

“Yes! That’s where I know you from. You’re the girl from the party!” Several people turn to glare at them due to sudden his outburst and Scott cringes. “Sorry, sorry,” he says to the table next to them, at a much lower volume. “Sorry,” he says, turning back to her. “You must think I’m the biggest asshole. I don’t normally forget things. Or people.”

“No it’s fine, we’ve all had nights like that.” She tries to smile at him in a way she hopes is reassuring. “I just assumed you remembered, you know, based on how many times we caught you looking over at me.” Oh my god, is she seriously flirting with him?

She watches his face turn bright red before he groans loudly and slams his head on the table. Tessa winces from the sound of the impact. That cannot have felt good, especially with the hangover she assumes he must have.

His voice is muffled when he responds and she leans closer to be able to hear him. “I’m so sorry. I must seem like such a creep.” He takes a deep breath and lifts his head. Scott’s stare is intent and focused entirely on her. “I am so sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way. Truly.”

He looks so sincere it takes everything she has not to laugh. She reaches out to grab his arm and gives it a squeeze. “It’s okay, really. I was mostly kidding. We just made eye contact like once, maybe twice. You weren’t actually staring, I promise.”

His eyes track all over her face and he looks like he’s trying to decide whether or not she’s telling the truth. She definitely is, Tessa has no problem telling men when they’re being creeps and so far, Scott has not presented himself as one. He finally smiles at her and glances down at where she’s still touching him. They both seem to realize she's still gripping his arm at the same time and she pulls her hand back quickly.

“So,” she starts, trying to clear the air of a potentially awkward moment. “You’re in physio too?”

Scott smiles and starts to tell her about the class him and Ashley are both in. She asks him a few more questions about his program and what he wants to do once he’s graduated. He answers all of them honestly and enthusiastically and Tessa can tell he’s passionate about what he wants to do. He’s just explaining how his mom and aunt run a skating school and he wants to help with coaching and eventually move into being a trainer for professional athletes when Ashley comes back.

“So sorry, the line for the photocopier was so long! Here’s your notebook. Thanks so much, seriously you’re a lifesaver.” She hands the notebook back to Scott and immediately starts packing things in her bag.

“Where are you going?” Tessa asks her. “We were going to quiz each other.”

“I got a text from Lisa over by the printers, she’s having a major crisis and I told her I’d be there as soon as I could. Sorry girl.”

As far as excuses go, its probably the flimsiest one Tessa has ever heard. Lisa is the most collected person Tessa has ever met in her life, in all the time her and Ashley have been dating she's never had a single crisis.

“Maybe you and Scott can study together, yeah?” Ashley says, pointedly looking at her as she finishes putting away her things and slings her bag over her shoulder.

“Ashley! You cannot just volunteer people’s time. Scott has his own studying to do.”

“I don’t mind actually.” His voice breaks them out of their stare down. Tessa can see Ashley smiling from her periphery. “It’s always better when you have someone quizzing you and focusing on a different subject could be a nice break.”

“Well there you have it! Tessa, I’ll see you back at the apartment. Scott, I hope I’ll be seeing you around more!” And with that very blatant and obvious statement, she leaves Tessa to deal with the fallout all by herself.

Tessa knows she’s bright red as she turns back to Scott, “Ashley can be kind of pushy sometimes. You really don't have to stay if you don’t want to.”

Scott smiles at her, bright and open, not a hint of hesitation. “I want to, seriously. I hate sitting by myself in here anyways. Especially during exams. It feels too suffocating.” He leans down and starts to pull a book, notebook, and pencil out of his bag, setting it all out on the table in front of him. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”

Scott opens his book with one last smile directed her way. Tessa just nods, looks back at her textbook, and tries to tamp down the smile that’s slowly stretching over her face.


	2. Don't Give Up On Your Faith

He doesn’t get her number. It has to be one of the dumbest things he’s ever done, but he honestly did not even think of it at the time. Scott actually had fun studying with her in the library, but after six hours they both decided to call it quits. They had parted ways on the steps of the library, (he had found out she lived in the opposite direction as him), and all he had said was “Good luck on your exams!”, as he waved at her. She had smiled and wished him luck as well and then left. It wasn’t until he was already back at his apartment that he realized he hadn’t gotten her number.

He was hoping that he would see her in the following week, walking around campus or studying in the library, but he didn’t. And now he was at home in Ilderton, lying face down on the floor of his family room, sulking about not getting Tessa’s number. He had thought about maybe texting Ashley and asking for Tessa’s number, but then he chickened out. The thing was, Tessa could have asked for his number, or asked Ashley for it herself. They were the ones who were actually friends, but she hadn’t. So maybe she didn’t want him to have her number anyways.

Hence the sulking.

Normally, he loves being home for the holidays with his family. Skating with his brothers, helping his mom make cookies, watching hockey with his dad. But he was allowing himself the first few days at home to wallow. Scott can just blame it on being tired from exams and the end of the semester. They don’t have to know he’s moping because he just made what was probably the biggest mistake of his dating life to date. (Maybe he’s feeling a little dramatic too.)

Scott is trying to decide whether or not he should get up and help his mom make Christmas cookies when he hears the phone ring. He attempts to get up and grab it, so his mom won't have to stop what she’s doing, but she gets there before him anyways. He doesn’t have to wonder who's calling because the only place that ever calls their home phone as opposed to any of their cell phones is the rink. He listens to the low murmuring of his mom’s voice, but he can’t make out what she’s saying.

He hears his mom hang up the phone and then feels the floor creaking as she approaches him.

“Scott, honey, can you go help Carol up at the rink? There are a lot more little ones there today than usual, probably because school is out and parents are looking for other things to do. But she could really use an extra set of eyes.”

Scott rolls over to look at his mom as she continues.

“And I don’t know what’s got you moping around here, but I think some time at the rink would do you some good anyways.”

And well, he really can’t disagree with that. Scott loves helping out with all the kids at the rink. They tell him hilarious jokes that don’t make any sense and they get so excited when they accomplish something. He nods to his mom and stands up to go grab his skates by the front door. His mom beams at him as he passes her, which is also a plus, because he loves making her happy too.

Within thirty minutes he’s at the rink, skates on, helping a little girl named Poppy learn to skate backwards. She can’t be more than five years old, but she has a lot of potential. She’s catching onto the different skills they are working on today a lot faster than the other kids. He talks to her as she’s slowly moving backwards across the ice. Scott skates in front of her, arms stretched out just in case she starts to fall. She tells him all about what she wants from Santa for Christmas and when he asks her what her favorite winter activities are, she answers so enthusiastically he’s afraid she might tip forward.

She gets the hang of going backwards pretty quickly, so he decides to convince her to try some backwards crossovers. It’s just as he’s finished demonstrating that Poppy’s face lights up. She squeal, and starts to bounce up and down in her skates.

“What’s up kiddo?” Scott asks as he puts his hands on her shoulders to steady her. He’s afraid she’s going to fall over in all the excitement.

“My aunt is here!” Her voice is so high pitched, he would almost have to be a dog to hear it. She starts to wave both of her little hands back and forth super fast and her smile becomes bigger, if that was even possible. “My daddy said she was going to pick me up after lessons and she’s actually here!”

Scott has to smile with Poppy, her reaction is so adorable. Her aunt must be one incredible women to be receiving this kind of reaction. Scott turns around to see the source of her enthusiasm, expecting some thirty year old woman to be in the stands. What he doesn’t expect to see is Tessa, waving back at Poppy with an equal amount of intensity. It takes her a second, but eventually she spots Scott standing next to her niece. Her eyes widen and he can see her cheeks start to turn pink. Her wave becomes a little more subdued, but she gives him a small smile nonetheless. He waves and smiles back before turning to face Poppy again.

“Alright kiddo, what do you say we impress your aunt today, eh?” he asks her.

Her tiny “Yay!” in response perfectly matches the one in his head.

…

The last person Tessa expects to see at the Ilderton rink is Scott. But there he is, skating around with Poppy and all the other kids on the ice. She was hoping she would see him before she had to go back home for break, but like the past two and a half years, it was like he didn’t exist. She had really thought he was going to ask for her number before they parted ways at front of the library. She had definitely felt like they connected while they were studying, he had made her laugh a lot and he laughed at all her dumb jokes too.

She supposes she could have asked for his number, but then he had wished her luck on her exams and started walking away and she had lost her nerve. These past few days she had been really tempted to just ask Ashley for his number, but she would teased her mercilessly and Tessa didn’t really want to deal with that just yet. So she had decided to just leave it up to fate, if they were supposed to see each other again, they just would.

Fate sure had a funny way of delivering.

If she’s being honest with herself, which she decides she will be, Tessa likes watching him skate around with all the little kids. She can tell they all love him. They’re all vying for his attention, wanting to show him what they’ve learned so far or just enthusiastically telling him about what they’re going to do for the holidays. Every once in a while one of them will say or do something that makes him laugh and the kid's face will light up like it’s already Christmas.

And the thing is, Scott’s good at it, working with all the skaters. He gently encourages them to try new things, but never anything they wouldn’t be able to handle. He’s quick to reassure them when they fall, or don’t get something right away. And whenever one of them looks like they're about to burst into tears, he slyly slips them a jolly rancher from his pocket. He must have, like, twenty pieces in there from what she’s seen so far.

Tessa can also tell Scott is trying to split his time between all the kids evenly, trying not play favorites and all that, but throughout the lesson he keeps drifting back to Poppy. Even with her limited skating knowledge, Tessa can tell Poppy is better than most of the other skaters. She picks up on things quickly and masters them even faster. Scott has been giving her more difficult things to try and she’s always up for the challenge. Every once in a while Poppy looks into the stands to make sure Tessa is watching her and every time Scott follows her gaze, so Tessa gives both of them a smile.

It’s as the woman in charge calls all of the skaters to circle up at center ice that Scott starts to skate over to the boards. She takes that as her cue to stand and head towards him.

“Hey!” Scott says, as he stops in front of her. “Couldn’t get enough of me in the library? Had to follow me all the way to Ilderton?”

Tessa snorts as she laughs, which might not be the most attractive thing, but Scott’s face lights up anyways, so she doesn’t really care. “You wish. I am on babysitting duty tonight. It’s one of the reasons my brother loves having me home from University. I didn’t realize this was the rink you were telling me about.”

“Yeah, well, this is it!” he replies, gesturing to the ice around him. “My house is actually just over there,” he says, nodding towards the direction of where he lives. “So I practically grew up in the arena. I’m guessing you’re not from Ilderton, or else I feel like I would have already known you.”

“Oh no, London actually, but my brother said this is the best program in the area and Poppy really wanted to learn so here I am!”

He looks like he's about to respond when a tiny body slams into the boards by his legs.

“Tess! Did you see me skating out there? Did you see me go backwards?” Poppy asks.

“Yes! You were so good! You’re going to have to show me how to do all of that while I’m home!”

Poppy squeals in delight and turns to Scott. “Can we show Tessa the spiny thing please?” She clasps her tiny hands together and gives him her best puppy dog eyes. Tessa has been on the receiving end of that look many times, it’s almost impossible to say no.

Scott glances at Tessa quickly to make sure it’s okay before he agrees. “Let’s go kiddo,” he says, grabbing Poppy’s hands in his own before starting to skate backwards across the ice. When he gets to the middle of the rink, he checks behind him to make sure nobody is in his way before he grabs Poppy under her arms and spins her around in the air. Poppy’s little legs swing out behind her and her laugh has to be one of the cutest things Tessa has ever heard. Scott gently sets her back on the ice and they both skate back to where Tessa stands.

“That was awesome Poppy! You were going so fast!”

“I know!” she replies, jumping up and down. Scott quickly grabs her arm when it looks like she’s about to fall and Tessa laughs.

“Should we get you home, so we can get some food in that tummy of yours?” Tessa asks her.

“Yeah!”

The three of them make their way over to the opening in the boards. Poppy steps over the little barrier easily and plops down on the bench next to her skate bag. Tessa kneels down in front of her and starts to work on the laces of one of the skates. She knows how tight her brother ties these things and Poppy always takes forever to untie them herself.

Tessa feels Scott hesitate behind her and she hopes he'll stick around to talk for a little bit longer.

But she doesn’t really have to hope because he kneels down right next to her. “Want help with this one too?” he asks Poppy. She nods her tiny head and he starts on her other skate.

“So, any fun holiday plans?” Scott asks, concentrating on Poppy’s foot in front of him.

“Not really. Just hanging out with my family and catching up on all the TV shows I missed this semester. I have a few books lined up.”

“Woah now, don’t get too crazy.”

She laughs, “What about you?”

“Pretty much the same thing. We never do anything big over the holidays. I’ll spend a lot of time in the arena.”

“Nice! I always think it’s best when I don’t have a ton of plans so I can relax after a long semester, ya know?” she says, as she pulls off Poppy’s skate and sets it in her bag. She holds it out for Scott to do the same.

“Definitely. It’s always good to decompress.” He tosses her other skate in the bag too and looks her in the eyes. For a second, they just stare at each other, smiling, until Tessa feels a finger poking her shoulder.

“Tess, can we go now? I’m hungry.”

Tessa smiles at Poppy. “Sure cutie. Let's get out of here.”

Tessa picks up Poppy’s skating back and stands up, taking Poppy’s hand with her free one. Scott stands up too and she didn’t realize how much taller he is in skates. He practically towers over her. “Well, have a great Christmas! I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, sure! You too.” He looks like he wants to maybe say more, but Poppy is already pulling her towards the door, waving to Scott as she goes. Tessa gives him one last smile and walks out of the rink with Poppy.

She’s buckling Poppy into her booster seat and listening to her talk about all the ice cream she plans on eating after dinner when Tessa hears her name being called behind her. She turns around and sees Scott jogging towards the car. He’s got his shoes on, but they’re untied, like he took off his skates and slipped them in a hurry. He stops right in front of her and his cheeks are pink, but Tessa doesn’t think it’s from the run over here or the cold.

“So, listen,” Scott starts, and he seems nervous, his eyes focusing on a spot just over her shoulder. “If you aren’t doing too much and get bored or something, I’ll just be sitting around, not really doing anything either, and don’t feel obligated to say yes-”

“Scott,” She cuts off his rambling and he finally meets her eyes. “I would love to hang out sometime before we go back to school.”

“Oh nice, that’s great.” His smile is so wide and his eyes are so bright. “That’s really great.”

She smiles back at him, “Yeah, so, maybe I could give you my number so I don’t have to track you down here?”

“Right, yes, of course!” He quickly pulls out his phone, opens the contacts, and hands it to her.

She puts her number in, double checking to make sure it’s right, and hands it back to him.

“Alright, I’ll text you then. Merry Christmas Tess.” He reaches out and squeezes her arm, he’s got the softest smile on his face. “See you soon.” He starts to walk backwards, towards the rink and Tessa closes Poppy’s door and gets into the driver’s seat.

Scott is just standing at the entrance to the rink, smiling and waving at the two of them as Tessa backs out of her parking spot. She watches from the rear view mirror as Poppy enthusiastically waves back with both of her hands and it makes Tessa laugh with how fast her hands are moving. She sees Scott start to laugh too. He winks at her and waves for a few more seconds before Tessa pulls out onto the street and he walks back inside. She can’t help but smile the whole way back to her brother’s house. 


	3. If you stick together you're gonna find the way

Scott texts her later that night to ask how babysitting is going. He texts her while she watches Tangled with Poppy, after she puts Poppy to bed, and up until her brother and his wife get home. She keeps texting him when she gets to her mother’s house and all the way up until she falls asleep. The next morning is more of the same.

Tessa finds herself smiling at her phone more often than not as he tells her about building a snowman with his niece or sends her a picture of the gingerbread cookies he helps his mom bake. At one point, Jordan asked her why she was looking at her phone like she had just found out she won a lifetime supply of chocolate, but she had brushed it off, said Ashley was just telling her funny family stories. Jordan had believed her and had left her alone about it since.

On Christmas morning she wakes up to her phone buzzing with a text from Scott wishing her a “Merry Christmas!” with a Christmas tree emoji and Santa hat. She texts him back a similar message as she heads downstairs. Her brothers and their families are supposed to be arriving soon for breakfast and presents and she can already smell the waffles that must be in the iron, so she heads into the kitchen to find her mom.

Jordan is already sitting on one of the island stools, nursing a cup of coffee. “Wow, up before ten and actually looking like you’re happy to be awake. This must be some kind of record.”

Tessa rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out at her sister. “Can’t I just be excited that it’s Christmas?”

“Of course you can sweetie. I was just about to send Jordan upstairs to get you anyways,” her mom interjects, before any real argument can break out between the two of them.

Tessa gives Jordan her sweetest smile and the finger when her mom goes back to the waffles. “Anything you need help with mom?” she asks, choosing to ignore the look Jordan is almost definitely making behind her back.

“No honey, you’re fine. Just sit and relax.”

“Yeah Tess, we want to actually be able to eat our Christmas breakfast.”

She chooses not to respond, instead pouring her self some hot water and getting a slice of lemon out of the fridge. She grabs some strawberries out of the bowl of fruit her mom has set out when she's not looking and turns around to find Jordan looking at her phone.

“What’re you doing?” Tessa quickly walks back to Jordan and snatches her phone out of her hands. As she glances down, she sees Scott’s name on her phone screen and she already knows what’s coming.

“Who’s Scott?”

“Just some guy from school.”

“Why’s he texting you at 8:30 on Christmas morning?”

“I don’t know, you’re the one who had my phone. You tell me.”

Jordan gives her a look and Tessa thinks about telling her the truth, but she's saved from any sort of decision by the front door opening and her family pouring in.

It doesn’t take long for all the food to be moved into the dining room and for everyone to get situated in their seats. Tessa ends up at the end of the table, next to her mom and across from Poppy and Jordan. It’s just as they’ve all started to eat that it happens.

Tessa is telling her mom about one of the classes she's taking next semester when she hears Jordan ask Poppy about skating. She tunes out her mom’s reply and focuses on Poppy’s retelling of her latest skating lesson.

“And I learned to go backwards, and Tess let Scott spin me in the air, and my friend Joey tried to beat me in a race, but I won.”

Jordan immediately looks up, shit eating grin fixed on her face. Tessa can feel her whole body turning red, she can’t believe her niece is the one to rat her out.

“Who’s Scott?” The question is directed at Poppy, but Jordan hasn’t stopped looking at her.

“Tessa’s friend!”

“Is he one of your instructors sweetie?” Kate asks Poppy, stepping in before this can evolve into a ‘let’s question Tessa about her love life’ breakfast.

Poppy nods her head before diving back into her waffles.

“I thought Carol Moir was in charge of those lessons?” her mom asks, this time directed at her.

“Carol is Scott’s aunt. He was just helping out.”

“And how do you know that?” Jordan asks her.

“Santa told me,” she responds, directing a pointed look at Jordan, hoping it conveys the fuck off it’s supposed to.

Hearing her reply, Poppy’s waffles are completely forgotten. Her head shoots up and her mouth is split into an almost impossibly wide grin. “You talked to Santa?”

“I did! And he told me he got you some super cool stuff this year. So we should eat quickly and then you can go see everything you got.”

“Yay!” Poppy starts shoveling food into her mouth at potentially dangerous speeds and only slows down when Jordan tells her to. The distraction is enough to divert her attention and the conversation drifts away from Scott.

Later, when all the dishes have been done and all the presents have been opened, most everyone is either asleep or half way there, on the floors and couches around the tree. Poppy is playing with her new Lego set, while Kate reads the instructions on how to set it up. Tessa figures it’s as good a time as any to head up to her own bed to take a nap.

She’s laying in her bed when she hears her door open. Tessa rolls over to see Jordan coming into her room, so she moves over and lifts the covers, letting her slide in next to her.

“Okay, spill, who is this guy? And why haven’t you mentioned him before?”

She sighs, “I seriously just met him, like a week before I got home. And I didn’t even get his number until I went to pick Poppy up from skating and he just happened to be there. I barely know him.”

Jordan smiles softly at her, “But you like him?”

Tessa nods and smiles back. “He’s nice and funny.”

“Cute?”

She thinks of his eyes, jawline, and the way his bicep looked in his t-shirt when they were studying together in the library. “Definitely.”

“Okay, show me a picture. I gotta see who exactly has you this smitten.”

Tessa laughs, “I would if I could but I do not have any pictures. He doesn’t have Instagram or anything.”

Jordan gasps dramatically, “Liar!”

“No really! I already checked, I’d show you if I could.”

Her sister rolls her eyes, but concedes nonetheless. “Fine, I’ll take you’re word for it. I’ll just wait to be introduced in person.” She closes her eyes and snuggles further into the bed. “Now, let me nap or I won’t be much fun later when you’ll need me as your partner for charades.”

“Good point. We’ve got to hold our status as reigning champions.” She closes her eyes and lets herself fall asleep to the sounds of her sister breathing.

Tessa wakes up a little while later to an empty room and the noise of her family downstairs. She rolls over to check the time and sees two unopened texts from Scott. The first is just asking her about her favorite ice cream flavor, but the second is the one she’s actually interested in.

_Are you free tomorrow night?_

She smiles to herself as she types out a reply.

_Depends. What do you have in mind?_

She’s not expecting a quick reply, he texted her about an hour ago, but her phone buzzes just a few minutes later anyways.

_How do you feel about another trip to Ilderton?_

…

It’s freezing outside, but he won’t make her pull into an unfamiliar, empty parking lot when it’s dark. He could’ve just asked her to meet him at his house, but then she would have had to come inside. And inside the house is his whole extended family. It’s not like he doesn’t love his family, but they can just be… a lot. Scott doesn’t want to overwhelm her on what may, or may not, be their first date.

So he resigns himself to waiting in the cold.

The word date was never said, now that he thinks about it. She never said it and neither did he. But that’s got to be what this is, right? He wants it to be at least. He’s definitely into her and it seems like she’s into him. They’ve been texting nonstop for the past three days and she wouldn’t be doing that if she wasn’t interested. At least, it’s not what he would do. But if she just wants to be friends, honestly he would be cool with that too. She’s nice, funny, smart, anyone would be lucky to have a friend like her.

Just as he’s starting to wonder if maybe he should unlock the door and wait right inside, before he turns into a block of ice and there’s nothing left of him to date in the first place, he sees headlights coming down the block. Tessa turns into the parking lot, driving the same car she had been the other day.

She parks it right at the front of the arena and hops out of the car. She looks like she’s dressed for a five kilometer hike through the tundra, not a five second walk to the door. But her toque and giant scarf make her look that much cuter as the snow falls all around them.

“Hey,” he greets her as she gets closer.

“Hi.” Her smile in response is just a little bit shy. “It’s freezing out here.”

“No worries,” Scott says, digging the keys out of the pocket on his sweatpants. He unlocks the front door for them and leads her inside the arena, towards where they hold the rental skates. They find a pair in Tessa’s size and head towards the benches to put them on.

“I can’t believe you’re Canadian and don’t own your own skates.” He’s already toed off his boots and taken off his coat, but she just sits there and watches him.

Tessa laughs loudly and he knows he hasn’t heard it very much, but he thinks he’s already in love with the sound. “I don’t skate much so there’s really no point in having my own.”

“Oh yeah? When’s the last time you skated?”

Her face gets red and he stops tying his skates, momentarily distracted. “Would you believe me if I told you I haven’t been since I was six and had to go on a class trip?”

“You’re joking right? How have you not been kicked out of the country?”

She shrugs and grins at him, despite the fact that she still looks mildly embarrassed.

“Well, good thing you’re here then. We’ve gotta fix this terrible tragedy.” She giggles again and finally takes off her coat. He finishes tying up his skates just as she’s taking off her shoes. “Do you want some help with those?” He gestures towards the skates at her feet and she nods her head in reply.

Scott kneels at her feet and slips one skate on at a time, starts lacing them up. He glances up at her quickly, to ask if it feels too tight, but gets distracted by the slight blush that’s back on her cheeks. The sight makes him think of other things he could be doing on his knees in front of her. He quickly shakes the thought out of his head. It’s not that he wouldn’t want to be doing those things if she wanted to too, but he’s getting ahead of himself.

He finishes lacing up her skates and stands. He holds out his hands for Tessa to grab and pulls her to her feet as well. “You must think I’m pathetic huh? Twenty years old and can’t skate as well as her five year old niece?”

“We’ll get you there. Soon you’ll be skating just as well as the seven year olds.” He leads her over the the opening in the boards and steps out onto the ice. She looks at him hesitantly. “I won’t let go. Promise.”

Tessa slowly steps onto the ice and wobbles slightly. He tightens his grip on her hands and raises his eyebrows at her slightly when she looks at him. She seems to understand his question and nods once, so he slowly starts to skate backwards, pulling her along with him.

“So, we aren’t breaking and entering here right? My perfect record isn’t going to be ruined by hanging out with you?”

Scott laughs loudly and she smiles, looking proud of herself. “I got the key from my mom, she knows we’re here. Your perfect record won’t be tainted.”

Tessa smiles at him and he picks up speed a little bit. She tentatively starts to stroke her feet as well and Scott lessens his grip on her hands. They make it all the way around the rink before he asks her if she wants to try on her own. He stays in front of her, arms outstretched, just in case she starts to fall.

“Since you didn’t spend your childhood on the ice like most Canadian children, what were you doing?”

“I was a runner actually. Long distance.” She doesn’t look at him, focusing entirely on her feet. “I ran competitively up until I left for McGill actually.”

“Why’d you stop?”

“Compartment syndrome, it’s an overuse injury. I had surgery the summer before my first year, but mostly just so I could keep running recreationally. My legs wouldn’t be able to take competitive running anymore, so the choice was made for me.”

He stops abruptly and Tessa collides into him. He grabs her hips so she doesn’t topple over and she ends up resting her hands on his chest. Scott waits until she’s looking at him to speak. “I’m sorry, that’s terrible.”

“Thanks, but I’ve made my peace with it.” She gives him a small smile.

“Were you good?”

She shrugs her shoulders, but looks like she’s trying to stop herself from smirking.

“You were, weren’t you? How many races did you win?”

“By my last year of senior high?” He nods. “I don’t know, I probably didn’t place in one race.”

“Okay, but how many did you win?”

This time she really does smirk at him, “All of them.”

“Holy shit, you won every single race, except for one? You’ve got to be insanely fast.”

“I’m okay.”

“Now you’re being modest? No way, what was your fastest 5K time?”

“Fifteen minutes, fifty-three seconds.” She answers quickly, like the number is on a constant loop in her head. “But that was my fastest of all time, I can’t run that anymore.”

Fifteen minutes and fifty-three seconds is insane. The fastest Scott’s ever been able to run 5K is around twenty-one minutes, and that’s on a good day, when he’s been running consistently for weeks. He knows he must look shocked or impressed, but he can’t help it. Tessa pushes on his chest and it’s only then that he realizes he’s been staring. He starts to skate backwards again, but lets his hands find hers.

She concentrates on him now that she doesn’t have to be watching her feet. “What about you? Did you play hockey?”

“No, actually, I was an ice dancer for seven years. But I sort of lost my love for it, so I stopped.”

“No big, dramatic event?”

“Nope, just realized I actually liked coaching more, helping others achieve their best.”

“How very noble of you.” Tessa teases him. She stops suddenly by grabbing onto the boards. “So if you were an ice dancer for seven years, why haven’t I seen anything cool yet?”

“Excuse me?”

“I just mean, you ask me to come skating with you, you tell me you were an ice dancer, I just figure you’d want to impress me and so far I haven’t seen anything particularly impressive.” Tessa smirks at him from where she’s leaning against the boards and raises her eyebrows in challenge.

Her words send a thrill down his spine. She’s definitely flirting with him and that thought makes him happier than he probably has any right to be, but he doesn’t care. If she wants to be impressed then he’ll do what he can. He sends a smirk right back at her and takes off backwards, maintaining eye contact with her for as long as he can.

The only big jump he can still do is a single axel, but Scott figures that’s impressive enough. He lands it easily and hears her clapping behind him. He turns to face her and does a few bows, over exaggerating the movement. He lazily skates back to her, doing a quick spin on his way, and stops directly in front of her.

“Impressive enough for you?”

“I’ll say. For a non-skater like myself, if you can get yourself in the air, I’ll be impressed.”

Scott laughs and she joins him for a second before starting to ease along the boards, not holding onto them, but keeping her arm out anyways. He skates up next to her and they make a few laps around the rink like that, quizzing each other on their favorite things. He commits every one she says to memory. Favorite flower: peonies, favorite movie: Princess Bride, or anything Aubrey Hepburn, favorite food: chocolate, dream vacation: Paris.

Tessa’s face lights up as she tells him about all the things she likes and she listens intently to everything he tells her. She asks follow up questions when it applies, like why his favorite meal is his mom’s specialty homemade pasta dish (the first time he remembers eating it was after his first major competition, when he fell on his ass), or why his biggest fear is mascots (something about not being able to see their faces and how they don’t talk). She’s just easy to talk to.

He’s a people person, he gets along with most everybody, but Scott doesn’t think he’s ever felt this relaxed while talking to someone he’s just getting to know. Most of the time it feels at least a little bit forced, but not with Tessa. Even his with his past girlfriends he had some difficulty connecting with them when they first started going out.

They’ve been skating already for about an hour, just going in easy circles, and Tessa gets more confident every time they pass by where they started. In fact, she seems just confident enough that Scott feels totally comfortable asking her if she wants to try a few simple dance steps. She agrees, tentatively, so he promises he’ll do the leading and won’t let her fall.

He pulls her into him, maneuvering her into a dance hold and slowly starts to pull her across the ice. Whatever skill she lacks, he makes up for and even though she’s mostly watching her feet, every once in a while she looks up at him and gives him a brilliant smile.

“This is fun,” she tells him after he’s spun her out and then back in. She’s resting one hand on his chest, the other is still clasped in his.

“Yeah, it is,” he replies softly. Scott slides his hand down her back slowly and pulls her in a little closer.

“So, if I were to say we should do this again sometime, you would say…” She trails off, looking down at their feet as he starts to lead them around the ice again.

“I would say, yes we should definitely do this some other time. Or, you know, we could do other stuff besides just skating.”

“Oh yeah? And what other stuff do you have in mind?”

“Well, when we get back to Montreal, maybe I could take you out to dinner?” he asks her. He gently squeezes her hand, so she’ll look at him when she answers.

Tessa lifts her head and meets his eyes. Hers are so beautifully green, they might be his favorite thing about her right now. “I would love that.” Her smile is huge and it makes her eyes seem like they’re sparkling. He feels like his own face is going to split in two with how wide his smile must be.

Scott leans down and gives her a soft kiss on her cheek. “Great, it’s a date then,” he whispers in her ear. When he pulls back, a light pink blush sits high on her face and he has to take it back. That, paired with her gorgeous green eyes this close to him, is his favorite thing about her.


	4. Forget Your Sorrow 'Cause Love's Gonna Conquer It All

They don’t get the chance to see each other before they have to go back to school. Scott spends New Years Eve and Day with his family and Tessa tells him she’s spending it with a few of her friends from senior high. His mom was the only one who knew about Tessa originally, he had to tell her when he asked for the key to the rink, but his brothers get it out of him on New Years when he’s had a few too many.

Cara demanded to see a picture of her and then found her on Instagram herself when she remembered how incompetent he is with social media. When they saw her last name is Virtue it immediately sparked a reaction. Apparently, both Charlie and Cara know Tessa’s older sister, Jordan, through some mutual friends. Cara even met her once, said she seemed nice, but they were both drunk and at a university party, so she couldn’t say anything definitive.

Nonetheless, all of them said they approved. Based on her pictures she seemed fun, athletic, smart, and in the words of Danny Moir, “out of your league”. He doesn’t care though, because regardless of what his brother thinks, Tessa agreed to go out with him again, the rest doesn’t really matter.

He’s already back in Montreal, has been for a few days, and Scott knows Tessa gets back tomorrow morning. He asked her if she wanted to get dinner tomorrow, before school starts in two days, but she said she has to uphold her tradition with Ashley of exchanging presents and winter break stories the night they both get back to school. She did ask if he would meet her for coffee on Sunday though, the day before classes start up again.

Scott’s just unlocking the door to his apartment after being at the gym when Patrick jumps out at him. He screams in a way that he would be embarrassed about if Patrick hadn’t made the same sound this morning when Scott scared him by hiding in his closet. “Fuck! Chiddy!”

He’s already laughing as he walks into the kitchen, “That’s 32-Patrick, 18-Scott. Face it man, you’ll never catch up to me, no matter how many times you hide in my own room.”

Scott rolls his eyes and follows him, opening the refrigerator door and pulling out the chocolate milk. “So what? Five months gives me a lot of time to get you back, don’t look so smug.”

“You’re not as good as me. Every year we start over and every year you lose. And not by a little. What was it last year? One hundred and seven to sixty five? All I have to say is good luck.”

“Yeah well, I can feel it, this is my year. I’m not that far behind and I’ve already got you twice since we’ve been back.” He downs the rest of his milk and faces Patrick. “What’re you doing tonight? Want to watch a movie or something?”

“Sure, but you should take a shower first. No offense, but I’m not sitting on a couch with you if you’re going to smell like that.” He scrunches his nose up in disgust.

Scott laughs and heads towards the bathroom to get in the shower. “We should order food or something, I’m hungry!” he shouts over his shoulder. “Anything in particular?”

“Whatever you want is good.”

He showers quickly and by the time he gets out, Patrick has already ordered them pizza and has decided they’ll be watching When Harry Met Sally. They pause the movie once when the pizza gets to their apartment, but other than that the night passes by uneventfully.

Scott is just putting the pizza box in the recycling when he hears Patrick calling to him from the next room. “Your phone is buzzing! Someone’s calling you.”

“Who is it?”

He hears him gasp dramatically and then a loud, “Hey Tessa!” Scott drops the box on the floor and makes a run for Patrick, who immediately runs to the other side of their couch.

“No, this is Patrick, Scott’s friend. Yeah, he’s here.” Scott gestures for him to give up the phone, but Patrick slaps his hand away and his eyes light up at whatever Tessa is saying. “Yeah? I think so too. His eyes are what? Dreamy?”

Scott lunges over the couch and grabs the phone out of Patrick’s hand. When he puts the phone up to his ear all he can hear at first is loud, thumping music. “Tess?”

“Scott! I was just telling your friend…”

“Patrick?”

“Yes him! I was telling him you have dreamy eyes.” That makes him smile and blush and he can see Patrick laughing at him from the corner of his eye.

“Thanks Tess. Where are you right now?”

“We went to a bar for the last night in London!” She’s yelling to be heard over the music and he can still barely make out what she’s saying. “I just wanted to call you to tell you I’m excited to see you!”

He huffs out a laugh, “I’m excited to see you too. We’re still on for Sunday though?”

“Yeah!” He hears someone in the background yell for Tessa and then a closer,  _Who are you talking to?_ , “It’s Scott!” All he hears is mumbling for a few seconds and then again, “Okay I have to go! But I’ll see you soon! Bye!”

He barely gets out his own goodbye before she hangs up the phone. He turns to Patrick, who’s already smiling. “How’d you get her number?”

“She lives in London, her niece takes skating lessons in Ilderton. I met her at the rink by chance.”

“When?”

“I don’t know, two weeks ago? It was right before Christmas.”

“And you kept it a secret? I’m offended, I thought we were friends.” Scott rolls his eyes. He thinks he’s been doing that a lot more around Patrick lately. “She said you’re cute and fun and I have to say I agree. Though the casual look you’ve got on right now is not your best.”

“Shut up.” Scott starts to head into his room, if he stays, he knows the teasing could go on for hours.

“And you’re eyes are pretty dreamy!” Patrick yells after him.

He shoots him the finger and he can hear Patrick laughing as he closes the door to his room. He plugs in his phone to charge it and when the screen lights up he sees he already has a text from Tessa. It’s just a string of emojis, but the fact that the majority of them are the kissing face emoji has him smiling as he closes his eyes and falls asleep.

…

She knows she should just suck it up and call him, but she’s still so embarrassed by the call she made last night. She had texted Scott an apology that morning and he had responded positively.

_It’s not a problem! I already knew I had dreamy eyes anyways ;)_

Still, anyone would be embarrassed about a drunk phone call to the guy you had barely started to maybe date. Especially a drunk call where she not only told him about his dreamy eyes, but also his friend and roommate. At the time, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea. Call Scott, tell him she was excited to see him, confirm their coffee date, say goodbye. In and out, super simple, except it always seems easy when she’s drunk and it always goes wrong in reality.

And now she’s sitting on the floor of her apartment hallway, after a long day of snowstorms and delayed flights. Locked out. She already tried Ashley, but her flight was cancelled because of the same storm that got her to Montreal four hours later than scheduled. All of her other friends that she could potentially stay with weren’t getting back until tomorrow. Her super wasn’t answering.

Literally the only person she knows in Montreal at this moment is Scott. And unless she wants to sleep on the wet, cold, nasty, green, carpeted hallway floor, she has to suck it up and call him. Tessa gathers up all the dignity she has left when it comes to Scott and presses him name on her phone. Miracle of miracles, he actually answers, but it’s loud in the background, he’s obviously with a lot of people.

“Hey Tess! What’s going on?”

She can tell he’s tipsy, so he’s probably at a party. If that’s the case, then she might have to start making herself comfortable on the floor.

“Hey! I was just calling to ask you something, but you sound busy, so it can wait!”

“No, I’m not busy, just a second.” She can hear him moving around, then a door closes and silence. “Sorry, it’s loud in there. What can I do for you?”

“It’s no big deal, really, I’ll just see you tomorrow!” She can feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She doesn’t even know why she’s starting to cry. She’s just tired and wants to sleep in her bed.

“Wait, Tess, are you alright?”

“Um, not really. I forgot my key at home and didn’t realize it until I got here. I’m locked out of my apartment and I think you’re the only person in Montreal that I know that’s also back right now.”

“Ashley’s not there?”

“No, her flight got cancelled because of the storm.”

“Okay, just a second.” She hears the door open and then the noise of the party again. He starts talking to someone, but she can’t make out what exactly it is they’re saying. And then he’s back on his phone. “Hey, I’m going to text you my address. Can you Uber there?” He waits for her confirmation before continuing. “Great, I can be there in ten minutes. I’ll see you there!”

She says goodbye and then takes a deep breath, gathers her bags, and opens the Uber app on her phone. At least she won’t be sleeping on the floor.

Tessa pulls up to his apartment building twenty minutes later and sees Scott already waiting for her out front. When she gets to him, he greets her, takes her duffle, and opens the door.

“Sorry you had to leave your party.”

He shrugs his shoulders and smiles down at her, his eyes are a little glassy. “Don’t worry about it. There’ll be hundreds of parties. It’s not a big deal.”

He gets them up to his floor and lets them both into his apartment. From what she can see at first glance, it’s a nice apartment for college students. It’s clean and tidy and actually smells good, almost like fresh flowers. She’s looking around and doesn’t even notice Scott is gone until she hears his voice from the next room.

“Are you hungry or anything? We don’t have a ton of food, but I’ve got some fruit and carrots if you want.”

She stays where she is and keeps looking around as she answers, “No, I’m alright. I ate dinner at the airport.”

He comes back out of the kitchen and leans against the door way. “Do you want to watch a movie or something? Or are you tired?”

“I’m actually pretty tired, if that’s okay? Do you have an extra blanket or anything, I’ll just sleep on the couch.”

Scott scrunches his face up, almost in disbelief. “Of course it’s okay and you’re not sleeping on the couch. C’mon.” He gestures with his head behind him and starts to walk down the hallway, her duffle still over his shoulder.

She follows him to his room, which is just as clean as the rest of place. “I just changed the sheets this morning. The bathroom is just right there,” Scott says, pointing to the door across the hall. “If you need anything, I’ll just be on the couch.”

“I can’t take your bed. Seriously, the couch is fine. You’ve already done enough letting me stay here.”

Scott laughs, “You’re not sleeping on the couch. Chiddy will be home soon anyways and if he sees someone on the couch, especially when he’s drunk, he’ll jump on you, thinking it’s me, so better it just be me anyways.”

Tessa giggles and finds herself nodding. Scott smiles at her, goes to grab some clothes from his drawer, and squeezes her shoulder as he passes, heading back towards the main room. “Just shout if you need anything.”

She quickly changes into her pajamas, grabs her face wash, toothbrush, and toothpaste and heads into the bathroom. As she’s passing through, she glances down the hall and sees Scott. Very shirtless. Very fit. Very drool worthy. She forces herself to look away before he can catch her staring like a creep, a creep who he so kindly let into his home and take his bed.

She hurries through her nighttime routine and heads back into Scott’s room. She doesn’t want to snoop, but she can’t help looking around his walls as she lays in his bed. From where she is, Tessa can see the various pictures he has up on the walls and framed on his nightstand and desk. Most of them look like they’re of his family and a few are of friends who must be from back in Ilderton, if the background of the pictures is anything to go by.

She lays there for she doesn’t even know how long. Scott’s bed is comfortable, and huge, plenty of space for her to stretch out, but she can’t fall asleep. Partially from the unfamiliar environment and partially because she feels bad that he’s stuck out on a couch that even from the short amount of time she saw it, she knows can’t be comfortable to sleep on. She would have even had to curl up on it, she can’t imagine him being able to fall asleep.

Making up her mind she slips out from under the blanket and heads into the common space. Scott looks up from the couch when he hears her get close to him. The TV is on and playing Friends reruns. “What’s up? Do you need anything?”

“Oh no, I’m fine. But I was thinking, you’re bed is huge and this couch cannot be comfortable. We should just share it.”

He narrows his eyes, like he's trying to assess how sincere she is. “Are you sure?”

She nods and he starts to smile, grabbing his pillow and following her back to his room. They both settle under the covers, not touching and not facing each other either. It’s a little awkward, but Tessa figures it would be with anyone in a situation like this.

“Thanks for saving me from having to sleep on my dirty hallway floor,” she says to the ceiling.

He huffs out a laugh and turns towards her. “Thanks for saving me from a shitty party.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“Oh trust me, it could. If you wouldn’t have called, I would’ve passed tipsy and gone straight to drunk.”

It’s her turn to laugh now. She rolls over onto her side to face him fully. “Well, happy to help then. Feel free to use me as an excuse to get out of any future parties.”

Scott reaches over to push some loose hair back behind her ear. He doesn’t move his hand though. Instead, he cups the side of her face, his thumb runs back and forth across her cheek. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He’s practically whispering.

She’s holding her breath, waiting to see what he’ll do next. His eyes dart down to her lips quickly, then back to her eyes. She moves her head closer to his, until their noses are touching. His hand moves from her cheek to the back of her neck, his fingers weaving into her hair. He looks at her one more time, asking for permission, she nods, and then his lips are on hers.

His lips are a little chapped, but otherwise, it’s perfect. His mouth is firm against hers and she feels his other hand come to rest along her waist. His tongue runs across her bottom lip and she opens her mouth. Scott rolls on top of her as his tongue sweeps into her mouth and her fingers thread through his hair. She can vaguely taste the vodka he must have been drinking earlier. His weight on top of her is delicious and her skin burns from his hands skimming over her stomach, where her shirt is bunched up.

He tears his mouth away from hers and starts peppering kisses along her jaw. One of her hands find its way under his shirt, tracing the hard ridges of the abs she only got a glimpse of before. She uses the hand still in his hair to direct his lips back to hers and she can’t help the moan that escapes her throat at the feeling.

It’s not like she hasn’t had sex before, sex she has fully enjoyed. But making out with Scott in his bed blows all those experiences out of the water. If this is what kissing him is like, she can’t imagine how the rest will go. When she bites down on his lip, he makes a needy noise in the back of his throat and his hips roll into hers. They both seem to realize what’s happening at the same time and break apart. His breathing is heavy and she can feel her own heart beating out of her chest.

He doesn’t pull back very far though, his eyes flitting back and forth between her own. His voice is raspy when he speaks, “I want to take you out first.”

Her brain hasn’t quite caught up with the rest of her yet, so all she can manage is a quiet, “Yeah.”

“I like you a lot. I just don’t want to rush it.” He’s looking at her so tenderly and she feels a blush rising on her cheeks.

“No, me either. I like you a lot too.” His face lights up and he presses a gentle kiss to the corner of her eye and then another, soft and chaste, to her lips.

He rolls off of her, but doesn’t go far, so she takes the opportunity to snuggle into his side. He presses another kiss into her hairline and mumbles something that she doesn’t quite catch.

“What was that?”

“I _said_ , you have dreamy eyes too, the dreamiest.” She can feel his smile against her forehead.

Tessa groans and tries to roll away, but he just tightens his arm around her. “I’m never living that down am I?”

“Probably not.” She smacks his shoulder, but closes her eyes.

The last thing she registers before she starts to drift asleep is Scott’s body lightly shaking from his laughter.


	5. When You're Ready To Go, And You're Heart's Left in Doubt

She wakes up too hot. And confused. She can feel someone breathing softly on her neck and looks over her shoulder. Scott is directly behind her, almost spooning, but not quite touching her. His body is like a furnace though. With both of them under the blanket it feels more like a mid-July day with no air conditioning, rather than January, in Montreal, in the middle of a snow storm.

Tessa watches him sleep for a few minutes. The morning light and the pillow creases on his face make him look so peaceful. She’s tempted to reach out and trace his features, but doesn’t want to risk waking him up. She also has to pee and she’s hungry, she hasn’t eaten since the Toronto airport the night before.

She slowly gets out of the bed, careful not to jostle it too much, and makes her way to the bathroom and then the kitchen. She feels a little bad about eating his food, but he did offer it to her last night, so she figures he won’t mind too much. She finds some grapefruit in the refrigerator and decides it’s good enough for breakfast.

Tessa’s looking for a knife and spoon when someone behind her speaks. “Hey.” She startles and turns around. A guy about her age is standing in the doorway, she vaguely recognizes him from one of her classes last semester. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m Patrick, Scott’s roommate. Tessa, right?”

“Yeah, hey, we had that psych class last semester, right?” He nods. “Is it okay that I’m eating this?”

“Of course! Eat whatever, we don’t care.”

She smiles at him. “Thanks and thanks for letting me stay here. I really appreciate it.”   
“You don’t need to thank me, it’s all Scott. But I don’t mind anyways. From what Scott has told me, I think you and I could be friends.” He’s got a contemplative look on his face.

“Yeah?” If he’s the best friend, then a good first impression is important. She’ll agree with his assessment, even if he can’t actually know that much about her.

“Sure, you seem like the kind of person that doesn’t like to lose.”

She barks out a laugh. “And you don’t either?”

“Exactly. Now, how do you feel about jump scares?”

Fifteen minutes later, Tessa finds herself hiding in Patrick and Scott’s dark bathroom, behind the shower curtain, by herself. Patrick had explained that the best time to get Scott was when he first woke up, it lead to the best reactions. He had directed her into the bathroom after explaining the importance of timing and made her promise she wouldn’t turn on him. He was going to be waiting right outside Scott’s door. Her warning is supposed to be Scott’s first scream, but it takes forever to come.

If this is a game they play regularly, she's going to have to work on her patience. It’s an impossibly long amount of time before she finally hears Scott’s voice, which comes after a loud yell from Patrick, but it’s not from him screaming.

“Ha! Nice try. This is one of your worst attempts yet. If this is what you’re doing now, I’m going to catch up in no time.” He sounds pretty proud of himself, but she guesses that’s what Patrick’s goal was in the first place. Lure him into a false sense of security.

“Whatever, that’s one time compared to the hundreds of times you’ve been unsuccessful.”

“Okay sure.” He hesitates for a second, like he’s trying to decide something. And then she hears, “Hey, have you seen Tess?”

“Yeah, she was just eating some fruit, her mom called and she went into the hallway to talk to her.”

“Oh, alright, cool.”

“Sure, hey, I’m going to brunch with Liz though, so I’ll see you later this afternoon.”

Scott says something that she can’t really make out.

“Do you and Tessa want to come with?”

“I’ll ask her when she gets back in here.” His voice sounds much closer and then she hears the bathroom door start to open. Patrick told her to wait until right after the door closes.

She hears the click and rips back the shower curtain, “Ah!”

It’s definitely worth the long wait, with the undignified scream that comes from his mouth. She immediately starts to laugh and she can hear Patrick’s laughter from the hall before he bursts into the bathroom. “And that’s thirty-three! Thank you Tessa, you’re a natural.”

Scott is leaning against the sink, looking between the two of them with wide eyes and breathing heavily. “You two planned this?”

“Of course.” Patrick reaches out to give her a high five. “Tessa was happy to help and I’m more than happy to have her on my team.”

“Team? Oh no way. It’s every man,” he points at her. “Or woman, for themselves. One for Tessa, thirty-two for you.” He turns to address her directly. “You better watch yourself, you’ve entered a war you cannot win.”

She gives him her best smirk, “I don’t know, Patrick says I’m a natural and he seems to be the best at whatever this is.”

He narrows his eyes at the both of them and then starts herding them towards the door. “Both of you get out, I’ll deal with you in a second.”

They step out into the hallway and Patrick turns to her, smug grin firmly in place on his face. “That was really great, the best I’ve seen in awhile.” She hops up on the counter in the kitchen while he gathers up his keys and wallet. “Is he mad?”

“Nah, he started this when we moved in together two years ago. He’ll be impressed, but I’d be careful, because he’s going to have it out for you since you turned against him.”

“Duly noted.” She smiles at him, but his attention is drawn to something behind her.

“Feeling awake now?”

She turns around and there’s Scott, leaning against the wall and glaring at Patrick.

“Aren’t you going to be late picking up Liz?”

Patrick starts heading towards the door. “I am, which is why I’m leaving now! You guys want to meet us there?”

He scoffs. “No. I’m not going anywhere with you. Ever.”

“Right, well, I’ll remember that the next time you miss the bus and need a ride to class.” He leaves with the quiet click of the door and then it’s just the two of them.

“And you.” He fixes his gaze on her face. She can tell he’s trying to look intimidating, but it’s not working very well, a smile is threatening to break out on his face. He breaks from the wall and comes to stand in front of her, resting both hands on either side of her legs, caging her in. “Don’t think I’ll forget this.”

She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls his face in close enough to nudge her nose against his. Sitting on the counter gives her added height, so she has to lean down to kiss him on the corner of his mouth. “Anything I can do to make it up to you?”

Scott pulls his head back, but doesn’t go far. “Don’t try to distract me, I’m serious. I let you into my home, I give you my bed, and you scare me half to death in the bathroom.”

She laughs, loud and full, and a smile finally breaks out on his face. “I’m sorry, but Patrick talked me into, it sounded really fun and he promised me you’d scream like a baby, which you did. And it _was_ fun. I’m in this now.”

“Then you better be prepared Miss Virtue, because I’ve been playing this game a lot longer than you. That first scare was beginner’s luck, and I don’t think you’ll be so lucky next time.” 

“So you’re saying you’re going to walk on eggshells around me from now on?”

“No, but I’m definitely going to check behind every shower curtain for the rest of my life.”

She giggles again and he looks delighted to be the one causing it. He leans in to kiss her on the cheek, but instead of pulling away, he lingers. Tessa can feel her face start to heat up. He trails his lips along her jaw, until he gets to right below her ear, where he sucks, hard. Her stomach jolts and she tightens her grip on his shoulders. She can feel him smirking against her skin.

One of his hands starts to slide up her thigh and she wishes she had chosen to wear shorts, as opposed to sweatpants, to bed. It’d be much better to feel his hands on her bare skin. The only thought that flits through her head is to suggest they move back to his bed, but her stomach has other ideas. It makes a loud rumbling noise and Scott stops what he’s doing.

His breath is hot on her neck when he speaks, “Are you hungry?”

Her head thunks onto his shoulder. “I guess I should probably eat something, since I never got to it earlier.”

They both look to the grapefruit that’s sitting on the counter next to her, still whole. Patrick got to her before she had the chance to cut it. He pulls away from her neck to look her in the eyes. “I know a place we could go, if you want. It’s a ten minute walk.”

She doesn’t really want to stop kissing him, but she is hungry and food does sound good right now. “Okay, but only if they have french toast.”

He laughs. “They do. Let’s get dressed and we can leave.”

The way he says ‘let’s’ in reference to their clothing makes her want to start taking things off, not putting more on, but she also wants coffee. Before she can hop off the counter he grabs her hips, gently lifting her and not letting go even after her feet touch the floor. He gives her a quick squeeze, before grabbing her hand and pulling her back towards his room.

…

“I don’t get it. She slept over last weekend, you guys made out, and you’ve seen her almost every day this week. Why are you nervous?” Scott stops staring at the clock on the wall long enough to look over his shoulder at Patrick. He’s lounging on their couch, flipping through shows on Netflix, trying to decide what to watch. “And it won’t do you any good to sit and stare at the clock. Seven isn’t going to come any faster like that.”

Scott sighs and moves to sit next to Patrick on the couch. “I don’t know. This just feels important for some reason.”

“You need to relax. She’s obviously super into you. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

He sighs again and sinks further into the couch. He just wants this night to go well. They have met up for lunch a few times this week, and they ran into each other at the library just by chance yesterday. She had plopped herself down right next to him at the table he was occupying and they had studied in comfortable silence for a few hours, occasionally whispering comments or jokes to one another.

At one point, they may or may not have snuck into an abandoned part of the library and made out. Her pushed up against the wall, his hands on her ass. He was in the process of unbuttoning her shirt when they heard footsteps approaching, quickly broke apart, and pretended to search for books on the shelves behind them.

So really, he has no reason to be nervous, but ever since he got home from class this afternoon he hasn’t been able to stop fidgeting. And the closer it draws to seven o’clock, when Tessa is supposed to be meeting him at his apartment, the more on edge he feels.

“She’s spent enough time with you now that if she didn’t want to go out with you tonight, she would not have suggested this date.”

“Okay, yes, you’re right. I just have to relax. It’s just Tess.” Just Tess, like she’s just some random girl and not the first girl he’s felt this serious about in a long time, maybe ever. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, tries to calm his thoughts. It’s just a date, not even their first one. It’ll be fine.

Plus, it’s not like she didn’t text him earlier today telling him to wear something nice and then put, like, six winking smiley face emojis after it. She’s obviously excited about tonight, especially because she won’t give him any hints on where they’re going and she knows that’s been bothering him. Since he chose where they ate breakfast last Sunday, and paid for it, she had insisted she take him out tonight. And he had agreed, because honestly, he’ll do whatever she wants.

Which is why he is now anxiously waiting for seven o’clock to roll around. Maybe he was just anxious because tonight was going to be a surprise and he didn’t like not knowing what was happening. Or maybe he was anxious because he felt like this could potentially be the most important first, not-first, date of his life.

His nervous thoughts are interrupted by his phone ringing. He swipes to answer without really looking at who’s calling. “Hello?”

“Hey Scott!” He pulls the phone away from his ear to check that he’s hearing the voice right. Sure enough it’s Ashley.

“Hey Ashley?” He can’t hide the confusion in his voice. “What’s up?”

“Come on down! I’m your ride for the evening. And Tessa hates tardiness, so hurry up!” She hangs up without saying goodbye and Scott is left staring at the phone in his hand in confusion.

Patrick doesn’t even take his eyes off the TV, “I’d hurry if I were you. She sounded serious.”

“Right, okay, here I go.”

“Have fun! Tell Tessa I say hi and am looking forward to seeing her soon.” Patrick finally looks up, smirk fixed on his face.

“Yeah, no, I will not be giving her any messages from you.” Scott grabs his coat and heads for the door. “You two can plan on your own time.” He can hear Patrick laughing as he closes the door.

Scott heads out to the street, still confused by what’s happening, especially when he sees Ashley in front of his building, no Tessa in sight. He gets in the passenger seat and she immediately starts talking.

“You’re probably wondering where Tessa is, don’t worry I’m not crashing your date. She’s running a little behind, so I offered to come pick you up.” She pulls out into traffic and starts taking them wherever they’re going. “Also, I offered because I need to warn you. Tessa decided to cook you both dinner tonight, it’s supposed to be a surprise.”

He doesn’t know why she’s telling him if Tessa didn’t want him to know. “Oh, well, that’s really nice of her.”

“No, it’s not, trust me. In theory, sure, home cooked meal is very nice. But in practice, a Tessa Virtue meal is bad at best and poisonous at worst. Just, be ready is all I’m saying.”

He laughs. “Well thanks for the warning.”

“And, just, act surprised when you walk in. She’s really excited about this whole thing.” Scott nods along as she continues giving him instructions, take her key, go to apartment thirty-one, act surprised when Tessa tells him they’re staying in and she made a special lasagna from a cookbook she got for Christmas. Don’t eat the food if it’s soggy or unusually lumpy, it will most certainly lead to vomiting. Don’t let Tessa know she told him she’s the worst chef she’s ever known. Ashley finishes explaining all the parameters as she pulls up to a nondescript apartment building.

“And most important, have fun! And don’t have sex on the kitchen counter.”

Scott chokes on air at her brazenness. “Um, right, noted.” He get’s out of the car, but notices she’s not making any moves to do the same. “You’re not coming up?”

“To your date? No. I’m going to my girlfriend’s for the night. Now go on up, before she starts to get nervous.”

“Right, well, thanks for driving me here. Have a goodnight!” He shuts the door to her car and she waves at him as she drives away.

Scott takes a deep breath and then turns to head into the building, a mantra of ‘It’s just Tessa’ going through his head. He gets to her door and knocks and she must have been waiting on the other side because it swings open not even two seconds later.

She sounds a little breathless when she greets him and invites him in. He toes off his shoes and hangs his coat on one of the hooks next to his head.

“So, even though I told her not to, I’m guessing Ashley told you what’s going on?”

He chuckles. “Kind of. I might have heard something about a lasagna?” She giggles as he steps closer and settles his hands at her waist.

“You’ve heard correctly.” She smiles so sweetly he has to lean down and kiss her. It’s more just their smiles bumping into each other rather than them actually kissing, but he really couldn’t care less. He pulls away slowly and meets her eyes. “Hi.”

“Hi.” His smile grows wider, if it’s even possible. A piece of her hair is hanging in her face and he gently pushes it behind her ear.

“Well we can’t stand in the doorway forever. Are you hungry?” She doesn’t wait for him to reply, just grabs his hand and leads him into her apartment. “I hope it’s okay that we’re staying here. I just thought it might be quieter and a little more private.”

“It’s perfect,” he blurts out. “I just want to spend time with you.”

A blush spreads up her face, turning her cheeks a pretty pink. She smiles shyly at him. “Same.”

A timer goes off on the oven and Tessa jumps. She stops to grab two oven mitts before taking the hot dish out of the oven. From where he’s standing it actually looks pretty good. While she flits around the kitchen, pulling plates and utensils out of cupboards and drawers, he takes the time to look around. She’s made a salad to go with the main dish and there’s also a loaf of bread sitting on a cutting board.

She portions out some of the lasagna on each of their plates, as he dishes out the salad. The whole thing feels, and probably looks, really domestic, but it’s not uncomfortable. He wants to sink into the feeling of the two of them eating dinner together like it happens every night. She grabs the loaf of bread and leads them both to the small table just outside the kitchen area.

Tess sets her plate and the bread on the table and then heads back towards the kitchen. “Do you want beer, wine, water?” she asks, opening the refrigerator and peering inside.  
“I’ll take a beer.”

She pulls out two beers and rejoins him at the table. She sits down across from him, picks up a fork and looks at him expectantly, so he does the same. The food doesn’t look bad and when he takes a bite, it doesn’t taste bad either. It’s actually pretty good. Not the best thing he’s ever eaten, but definitely not inedible like he was potentially anticipating.

“Does it taste okay?” she asks him. Her voice sounds a little worried.

“It’s awesome! I love it, seriously.” He tries to make himself sound as sincere as possible and she beams at him.

“Good, I don’t always have the best luck in the kitchen, but this is something I’ve made a few times, so I figured I had a good grip on things.”

He smiles at her before he takes another bite, trying to convince her he actually does like his dinner and isn’t just faking it. Which he really isn’t. They spend the rest of the time talking about anything and everything. He accidentally lets it slip that his favorite movies are romantic comedies and Tessa lights up at the revelation. In turn, she tells him about her weird obsession with old, black and white movies in French.

He learns that she’s trying desperately to learn French, but it’s slow going. All her spare money goes into a fund to take a trip to Paris with her sister when she graduates. It’s endearing, watching her get so excited over the thought of seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. It’s as they’re cleaning up that they somehow stumble on the topic of alternate universes.

“Do you think we know each other?” she asks, him as she’s putting the leftover’s in some tupperware.

“Sure, why not?” He smiles as he answers her. “I think, in another life, I join my senior high track team, see you at a meet, and become completely enamored by the girl that can kick my ass in a race.”

Tessa laughs, loudly, and he hopes he gets to hear that sound a lot more in his life. “No wonder your favorite movies are romantic comedies. You’re practically a walking one.”

“Alright then, you go. How do we know each other in this other universe?”

She pauses for a second to think and then turns to face him. “I think we meet at the Ilderton rink. I go to lessons there because I don’t want to look like an idiot on my class field trip. You’re there, because obviously, you’re family basically owns the place. And I become completely enamored by the boy who races around the rink and tells dumb jokes.”

Now it’s his turn to laugh. He moves closer to her and pulls her into him by her hips. “Oh yeah? Keep going, what else happens in this universe?”

“Well, you obviously have a crush on me too,” she states, smiling up at him.

“Obviously.”

“And we get paired as partners, ice dance, and go on to win hundreds of medals.”

He hums in agreement and rests his forehead against hers. “And do I get to kiss you in this universe too?”

“Obviously.” She leans up to meet his lips and he means for it to be chaste, but in practice, that’s much harder to accomplish.

Tessa tastes like the pasta she made when he works his tongue into her mouth. She’s got one hand in his hair, nails raking against his scalp, and he loves it. Her other hand is working it’s way under his shirt, tracing the ridges of his stomach as it moves up. He flinches and she tries to pull back, looking at him in concern, but he keeps her close, kissing the corner of her mouth.

“It’s fine, your hands are just a little cold.”

She chuckles. “Well then maybe we should heat them up.”

He smirks into the underside of her jaw and moves his hands down her waist, over her ass, and to the backs of her thighs. Quickly, he lifts her up and sets her on the counter, but not before she wraps her legs around his waist and pulls him impossibly closer. He works his way down her throat, pulls the shoulder of her shirt to the side so he can get his lips on her collarbone.

“So, does this, uhmm,” Tessa stops whatever she was going to say and lets out a needy noise that he wants to hear again.

He nips lightly at her shoulder, works his hands under her shirt. The skin of her back is soft and warm, stark contrast to her hands just seconds before. “What was that?” He runs his tongue over her collar, before pulling back to meet her eyes. They’re slightly glazed over and her breathing is heavy.

“What?”

“You were saying something?” He leans back in to kiss along her cheekbone, can’t help himself.

“Right.” She pulls him back by his hair, so she can look at him again. “Does this count as you taking me out.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Do you want it to?”

“Yes,” she answers with conviction, not a note of hesitation in her voice. “Do you?”

“Yes.” He surges back in to capture her lips with his own. This time it feels frenzied. The sweater he’s wearing is bunched up around his armpits. She’s murmuring something that sounds like, _‘Take it off,’_ and he obliges her. The next to go is her blouse and then all that’s left is her lacy bra, and even that doesn’t stay on for long.

Her bare chest against his feels like heaven. Scott doesn’t think he’s ever felt this good before, like tiny fireworks are going off behind his eyelids. His stomach flips when she ducks her head down and starts kissing along his pectoral. He can tell she’s working a mark into his skin and he’s more than willing to let her.

She comes back up to meet his mouth and they make out like that for a few more minutes until he needs to take a breath and rests his head on her shoulder. Her hands are slowly stroking through his hair and her chest is heaving. That definitely catches his attention.

“God, you’re so pretty,” he breathes out, before kissing his way down her sternum. Something glints in the kitchen light and catches his eye, completely diverting his attention away from her breasts. His eyes snap up to meet hers. “You have a bellybutton ring?”

“Yeah?” Tessa gives him a weird look and he can’t help the groan that comes from deep in his chest. She giggles, “What?”

“That’s so hot Tess.” She lets out a booming laugh, head tipped back and all. He would maybe be a little embarrassed if he wasn’t so turned on.

When she settles down a little, smile still firmly in place, she drags her nails down his chest and abdomen. “Yeah, well, look at these abs, that’s what I would call hot.”

He can feel his face heat up, and can’t help the giggle that bubbles up in him. Her eyes are so dark and he wants her so badly.

“So, I sort of promised Ashley that we wouldn’t have sex in the kitchen,” she tells him.

He snorts. “She made me promise the same in the car.”

Tessa groans and rolls her eyes. “God she’s so embarrassing. But also practical. My room is right down the hall and my bed is much more comfortable than this hard counter, if you want to go there?”

He smiles up, grabs her ass, and pulls her right into him. She lets out a low moan and wraps her legs around his hips. He picks her up off the counter and starts peppering kisses all over her face. “Gladly,” he murmurs against her lips, walks to her bedroom, and kicks the door shut behind him.


	6. When You Want It The Most, There's No Easy Way Out

_6 Months Later_

“Tess. Wake up.” Scott shakes her shoulder, but she keeps her eyes tightly shut, even though he can tell she’s awake. “T. You gotta get up. My mom is going to be awake soon and you can’t be here.”

“Ugh.” She rolls over to face him. “I don’t want to get up. It’s too early.” Her eyes are still closed and she looks so cute, even though her face is all scrunched up in disgust.

“If you get up now, I’ll drive over to you in a few hours, with one of those fancy coffees you love so much.” That gets her to crack one eye open.

“Large?”

“Sure, whatever you want, as long as it gets you out of my bed and into your car.”

She lets out one second of loud, unrestrained laughter before he slaps a hand over her mouth. Her eyes widen in alarm, both of them quiet to hear if anyone has woken up and is coming to check on the noise. When it doesn’t seem like anyone heard, he removes his hand. The alarm clock on the table beside the bed reads 5:47am, just thirteen more minutes until his mom’s alarm goes off. They don’t have much time left.

“Okay,” she whispers, maybe a little bit more quiet than necessary. “I’ll go.” She sits up slowly and moves to get out of his bed. Before she can move too far though, he grabs her wrist, makes sure she’s looking at him before he speaks.

“To be clear, I don’t want you to go. And I’m glad you came here last night. You know I want you to come over whenever you need to.”

Her face softens and she leans down to kiss his forehead. “I know, thank you.” She moves to change out of the sweatpants and t-shirt he lent her the night before. Scott sits up to watch her change and she raises her eyebrows at him, stops pulling the shirt over her head.

“Free show,” he tells her, wiggling his eyebrows.

She scoffs and throws it at his face. It smells like her and he kind of wants to put it on, but he knows she would tease him endlessly for it. Instead, he settles for tossing the shirt on his bed and getting up to look for a pair of shorts to pull on, so he can walk her out.

He goes first, inspecting the hallway to make sure no one is out there before waving her to follow him. They make it all the way down the stairs and to the front door. It’s just as he’s about to lean in and give her a kiss goodbye that they hear a throat clearing behind them.

“Good morning you two.”

Tessa’s face instantly turns red and he can feel his own heating up as well. Busted. He turns around to face his mother head on. She doesn’t look mad, which is good. Though she rarely gets mad anyways, so who knows how she’s taking this.

  
“Your mom called me, asking if you were here. She went to check on you and you weren’t in your bed.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Moir. I didn’t mean to have her wake you up.” Tessa looks appropriately embarrassed and he’s guessing he looks the same. Getting caught by his mom, especially when it looks like he had Tessa sneak in for a booty call at midnight last night, is a low point for sure.

“Sweetie, please, how many times have I told you? You can call me Alma. But you should be getting home, you don’t want to keep your mom waiting.”

“Right, thank you Alma. I’m sorry, again.”

“No need to apologize. We’ll see you tomorrow for dinner?” Tessa nods in agreement. “Good. Drive safe honey. Scott can I talk to you in the kitchen please?”

Now it’s his turn to nod. His mom walks off and he turns back to Tessa. She cringes at him when he’s facing her fully. “Sorry, I should’ve gotten up right away.”

Scott just shrugs, “I don’t think it would’ve mattered anyways. It seems like she’s been up for awhile.” He pulls her in for a hug and kisses her forehead. “Sorry we got busted.”

“It was bound to happen sometime. There’s only so many times we can sneak in through a window without being caught.”

He smiles at her. “Should I still come around later?”

“Of course. We’re running today right? You’ve got to keep it up if you’re ever going to beat me.”

He laughs at that. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to beat you. But I’ll be there, running shoes on. Twelve o’clock?”

“Sounds good.” She bounces up on her toes to quickly peck him on the lips. “See you then, hope you’re not in too much trouble.”

“You too. See you later” He waits for her to turn off the block before shutting the door and taking a deep breath. He stands in the doorway for a few minutes, stalling. He loves his mom and she loves him, and he will go to his grave claiming the title of favorite son, even if she will never admit it. So he knows she won’t be _that_ mad at him, but he does feel slightly bad about taking advantage of that fact.

The inevitable cannot be delayed forever though, so he turns on his heel and makes trek to the kitchen. When he gets there, she is already sitting at the table, two cups of coffee in front of her. She smiles at him and gestures for him to sit across from her. Smiling can’t be that bad of a sign.

He sits, and she slides one cup across the table towards him. It’s the perfect temperature, just warm enough to be satisfying, but not hot enough to burn his tongue.

“This isn’t the first time she’s been here?” He shakes his head. “And I’m assuming you’ve snuck out before as well?” A nod this time. “Right, listen Scott, I know you’re 22, going to be 23 in just a few months, but-”

“I know, she shouldn’t be sleeping over. But it only ever happens when her parents are fighting. She just wanted to talk.”

His mom nods and purses her lips. “I know Tessa is going through a rough time right now. And you know your father and I adore her and want nothing but the best for her, but maybe next time, stick to a phone call for talking.”

Scott accepts quietly, disagreeing in this situation would only make this so much worse.

“Was her mom worried?” That is one thing that could bite him in the ass. He wants Kate to like him, but if she only ever associates him with the disappearance with her youngest child, that’s going to be difficult to accomplish.

“No, it didn’t sound like she was. She said I was her first call, so I’m assuming she was just calling to confirm what she already knew.”

“Did she call last night?”

“No, it was around five this morning. I just figured you two would be up soon to try and beat me anyways.” She gives him a knowing smile and he has enough decency to look slightly ashamed. Apparently, he’s too predictable.

“Sorry you lost out on that extra hour of sleep.”

“Thank you dear. If you’d like to make it up to me, you can come to the rink and help me get things ready for camp today.” She gives him a look that conveys it’s less of a suggestion and more of an order.

He drains the rest of the mug, grabs his mom’s as well, and heads to put them both in the dishwasher. “I can do that.” He gives his mom a kiss on the cheek and heads to his room to get ready for the day.

…

The decision to do ten kilometers was not her idea, for the record. Scott had assured her he could handle it and then encouraged her to go ahead without him when he started lagging behind. The problem is, she’s already been waiting at the end of the loop, laying in the grass, for ten minutes, and he is no where in sight. If she really wanted, she could start walking back to find him, but she’s not worried, he’ll make it here eventually and it’s peaceful just staring up at the sky.

Tessa closes her eyes and lets her mind wander. Ever since her mom discovered she had been sneaking out to Scott’s house last week, they hardly had anytime alone. Not like when she slept over they had even gotten up to anything, all she had wanted to do was talk.

And Scott is a great listener and great at comforting her, even if she’s only known him for a little over six months. None of her past significant others have ever gotten to know her so well, so fast though. And it doesn’t feel like that, it feels like she’s known him all her life. She’s never connected with someone like she has with him.

Which is sort of surprising, considering that the more she learns about him, the more it becomes apparent how different they are. But not really in the ways that matter. Which really only makes her like him more, because that means she gets to learn about a lot of new things, and gets to tell someone about everything she loves.

She knows she hasn’t been the most fun girlfriend lately, what with everything happening with her parents. She also knows Scott has picked up on her sullenness that in a month and a half, she will be heading back to Montreal and he will be placed firmly in Ilderton.

Tessa opens her eyes and sits up when she feels someone flop down beside her. Scott is lying on his back, shirtless, chest heaving. He’s thrown his shirt over his face, probably to block out the sun, but all she can really focus on are his beautiful, glistening abs.

“I can’t believe,” huge gasp for air, “I suggested,” another gasping breath, “that.”

Tessa smiles as she takes his shirt off his face and he squints up at her through the sunlight. “How do you still look so put together? You look like you’ve been lounging by a pool, not running.”

She shrugs and gives him her best smirk. “Years of practice I guess. And I wouldn’t say you look too bad yourself.” She rakes her eyes over his body as obviously as she can.

If he could, she imagines he would blush, but as his face is already extremely red, it can’t get much worse. “Don’t ogle me when I’m under duress.” He heaves another breath. “And what ever happened to a runner’s high?”

“You don’t feel great right now? Like you could do another three?”

He scoffs. “No, I just want to lay here for the rest of the day.”

She tosses his shirt back on his face and lays down beside him. “Great, that’s exactly what I want too.”

They lay in the grass in silence for a little bit, while Scott tries to regulate his breathing. The sun is getting higher in the sky and she’s glad they decided to run before ten, even if waking up before nine is her worst nightmare. Tessa hates getting sunburnt, and the fact that she runs in a sports bra and shorts when it’s this hot does not help. She would love to lay out here all day, but at some point, and soon, she’s going to have to put sunscreen on.

Eventually, Scott rolls over on his side and props his head in his hand. “So listen, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” She turns her head to the side so she can look at him and he reaches out a hand to brush a few stray hairs away from her face.

“Good or bad?”

“Good, I promise.” He gives her a reassuring smile before continuing. “I know you’ve been a little…” he seems to be searching for the right word to describe her behavior, “apprehensive, maybe? About me being here and you being in Montreal.”

“I’m not great at hiding it, eh?”

He chuckles softly. “Not really, no. But it’s okay because I have exciting news. I got offered a job, in Montreal. It’s for this team of physiotherapists, it’s just a starting position and it starts next month, but, you know, I’d be there.”

“Oh my god! Scott! That’s amazing!” He ducks his head and his smile is sheepish. “But you didn’t do this just for me, right?”

“No, I applied to places all over. Montreal, London, Toronto. But this one was my first choice, and I’ve known about this organization for awhile and was planing on applying after I graduated before we even met. You being there is just an added bonus now.”

“So then you accepted?” Every cell in her body feels like its buzzing from excitement, even as she tries to contain her happiness until she knows for sure.

“Not yet. I just got the call this morning and they don’t need a decision until next Wednesday. I’m waiting to hear from the other places too, before I decided for sure.”

She smiles brightly at him and sits up all the way. She grabs both of his hands and encourages him to sit up as well. They face each other, knees knocking together. “Whatever you decide, I want you to know that I’m so, so, proud of you.”

He finally smiles one of his real smiles, big and toothy, the one that makes his whole face scrunch up. She loves it. “Thanks T.” He pulls on her hands to draw her in closer and kisses her on the mouth. It’s sweet and thorough and when he pulls away, it takes a second to get her bearings back.

“I want you to make your decision separate from me, okay? I would love to have you in Montreal, but I also don’t want to influence your decision in any way that could potentially be negative.” She tries to sound as sincere as possible, because it’s the truth. Then she takes a deep breath and steels herself for the vulnerability that comes next. “And, well, I know it’s only been six months, and long distance can be tough, but if you don’t end up in Montreal, I want to keep doing this anyways. If that’s what you want.”

She can’t quite meet his eyes, so instead she stares at the trees over his left shoulder. He squeezes her upper thigh to get her to look at him. “Tess, I want that too.” Her eyes snap to his. “And I’m almost one hundred percent sure I’m choosing Montreal.”

Tessa lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and smiles at him. They must look like quite the pair, sweaty, shirtless, holding hands and grinning at each other like idiots. And it’s while they’re sitting underneath the hot June sun that she realizes this could very well be the man she spends forever with. This smart, generous, funny, beautiful man that randomly walked into her life six months ago.

But six months is too soon for forever. So for now, she’s okay to just bask in they way he’s looking at her, like maybe he could be thinking the same thing.


End file.
